This Incredible Viral Photo Proves Once and For All That Fed Is Best

Maya Vorderstrasse knows firsthand the intense pressure new moms are under to breastfeed as long as they can. The mom to Zoey, 13 months, and Hazel, 2 months, recently opened up on Instagram about her struggle to nurse her oldest. Her message: There's no right way to feed your kid.

In the portrait, Vorderstrasse simultaneously nurses Hazel and bottle-feeds Zoey. Breast or bottle, she writes, "You're a rockstar. No. Matter. What. Whatever your feeding routine consists of, it is hard being a mother, so let's show support for each other! To me, fed is best."

A post shared by M A Y A 🍉 (@mayavorderstrasse) on Sep 23, 2017 at 3:44pm PDT

Though she says she's "in a good place now," Vorderstrasse wasn't always so secure with her situation. Initially, she had no problem breastfeeding daughter Zoey. But she got pregnant with Hazel when Zoey was 2 months old, and by the time Zoey was 6 months old, Vorderstrasse's supply had run out.

"I felt like I was failing my daughter," she admits. "The first time I gave her formula, I cried the entire time. I felt ashamed that I wasn't able to breastfeed her until she was a year old." The guilt was so intense, Vorderstrasse says she went so far as to "hide" when she had to mix a bottle for her Zoey in public.

Yet over the course of a couple weeks, something shifted: Zoey, who had been so miserable for so long trying to nurse, was acting like herself again. "I started getting over the shame because I saw how happy she was [on formula]," says Vorderstrasse. "She started smiling again."

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Vorderstrasse hasn't had any trouble breastfeeding baby Hazel so far. But after her experience with Zoey, she knows that may not always be the case — and that's OK. "I feel like people who stand up for breastfeeding have very strong opinions about it," Vorderstrasse says. "I think it's wonderful and very good for your child if you're able to, but, unfortunately, that just isn't the reality for a lot of mothers. When we can't breastfeed, we start to feel like we aren't good enough."

Other moms can clearly relate: Since Vorderstrasse first shared her photo in late September, the post has garnered nearly 11,000 likes and hundreds of comments from women all over the world. "Thank you very much for sharing this!" one commenter wrote. "I have a 2 year old daughter and I could not breastfeed her due to health issues. When I read and hear the comments about moms who bottle-feed their children, it makes me feel [ashamed] … Very few people come out and show support for those of us who can't breastfeed. So thank you for that!"

Vorderstrasse, for her part, is "humbled" by the attention her post has gotten."I'm glad my message is getting across," she says. "I hope that the mothers who read this understand that nobody else has any say in how they parent their child. Do what's right for you and your baby. Just love them and feed them."

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